BITCOIN COMPANY SPREADING TECH LOVE TO HBCU’S IN AFRICA

I Love Black People Bus Tour to Promote Black Wealth and Economic Liberation Through Cryptocurrency

Bitcoin startup, BitMari, heads to Africa for the second leg of the, I Black People transatlantic tour. The campaign kicks off, November 16th, 2017, at the Tech Village in Zimbabwe and is designed to promote Black wealth and economic liberation among the minds of young HBCU students.

Throughout the month of November, stops include the University of Zimbabwe, Midlands State University, National University of Science and Technology, Bindura University of Science Education, Africa University and Great Zimbabwe University and Harare Institute of Technology.

Each destination features many activities that include focus group discussions, fintech hackathons, tech job recruitment, visits to black banks & businesses and black history quizzes. The overarching goal of the inaugural tour is to spur, promote and celebrate black business and innovation throughout the Diaspora. BitMari will also collaborate with campus leaders, local businesses and change-agents to evangelize the benefits of STEM education, entrepreneurship, and Blockchain technology.

There are three points that will be stressed during the tour. The first will be to #BuyBlack. This means supporting black businesses that are providing quality goods and services to the public. “Buying Black” will not only help sustain those businesses but will also help to create institutions that will help fortify their communities and build wealth for future generations.

The second point is to #BankBlack. This point promotes the importance of black-owned financial institutions that are sensitive to the needs and concerns of black people. An idea that was reinforced by a 2014 FDIC study that found that black-owned banks in the U.S. are significantly more likely to lend in low-to-moderate income communities and to borrowers of color than many major banks. BitMari has already started this work in The Republic of Zimbabwe, where a few months ago, they made history by becoming the first Bitcoin startup to be granted an international remittance license by an African Central bank. As a result, Zimbabweans can use BitMari’s mobile wallet to transact in Bitcoin via their commercial bank partner Agribank, bypassing the predatory fees of traditional remittance companies.

The third and final point stressed will be to #BuildBlack. This is a call for the global black community to step up and support its innovators and entrepreneurs. The theme also challenges business leaders to collaborate more in an effort to promote financial growth and collective wealth throughout the Diaspora.

Through this tour, the young, black minds of tomorrow will get the tools they need to financially empower themselves and build stronger foundations in their respective communities.

This second leg follows a fifteen stop HBCU tour across the transatlantic. Over 3,000 students participated in the events.

ABOUTBitMari was founded by HBCU graduates Sinclair Skinner and Christopher Mapondera. It serves as a Pan-African remittance service that leverages on bitcoin technology to tap into new markets of the diaspora remittance. The goal is to help countries ease the pain of financial dependence and economic uncertainty, by offering more monetary control to the people through remittances. Bitmari is the only Bitcoin based company in the world to receive a money transfer license from the central bank of Zimbabwe and have a strategic partnership with Agribank to perform remittances for their customers using Bitcoin.